The U.S. Census Bureau recently reported1 that the percentage
of Americans living in poverty increased by 14.3 percent in 2009 -- the
highest rate of poverty in 15 years. An additional 4 million Americans
found themselves in poverty in 2009, bringing the total to 44 million.

More than 322,000 Washington residents are currently without a job and
more than 12.3 percent are living below the federal poverty line.
Assurance Wireless gives eligible customers the ability to provide a
contact number and return calls to a prospective employer, which,
studies show, can improve the chances of securing employment as well as
provide a simple way to stay connected to family in case of emergencies.

“With unemployment in Washington at 6.2 percent, people need to be
connected if for no other reason than to be able to apply for and obtain
a new job,” said Grace Boehm, director for Assurance Wireless.

According to a recent nationwide survey from Assurance Wireless*, adults
with an income of less than $25,000 are as likely to use their mobile
phone for employment searches as those with higher incomes.

“Programs like Assurance are so important for helping individuals and
families stay on, or get back on, their feet and succeed in these
difficult financial times,” explained business columnist and personal
finance expert Louis Barajas.

"As a state, we’ve taken the issues of poverty very seriously and are
actively seeking out relief with outside partners," said State
Representative Dawn Morrell, 25th District. "Assurance Wireless has the
potential to support over 300,000 of our currently unemployed residents
by providing a service that can help them seek employment."

Assurance Wireless has also introduced more choices to give its
customers the opportunity to pay to add voice minutes and text messaging
to their free wireless service. The core offer remains the same: 250
minutes of free talk time, a free phone with the ability to buy
additional minutes or texts at 10 cents each. The $5 Talk offer
increases the amount of minutes available each month to 500; the $20
Talk & Text offer increases the minutes to 1,000 and adds 1,000 text
messages. The new offers include a Service Protector feature which
ensures that the basic 250 free minutes are guaranteed each month a
customer is eligible, even if a customer cannot pay the additional
dollars during a particular month. These new offers are available to all
Assurance Wireless subscribers.

Customers eligible for Assurance Wireless include those who participate
in Medical Assistance, Food Stamps/SNAP, Temporary Assistance to Needy
Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Community Options
Program Entry System (COPES), Disability Lifeline, DSHS Chore Service,
Refugee Assistance or State Family Assistance (SFA). Customers may also
qualify based on low household income.

Assurance Wireless is currently also available in Florida, Indiana,
Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North
Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline
communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers,
businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 48.8
million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2010 and is widely
recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative
technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national
carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data
services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost
Mobile, Common Cents Mobile and Assurance Wireless; instant national and
international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet
backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 6 in its 2010 Green
Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the
highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit
Sprint at www.sprint.com
or www.facebook.com/sprint
and www.twitter.com/sprint.

About Assurance Wireless

Assurance Wireless, one of Sprint’s
prepaid brands, is supported by the Lifeline Assistance program, part of
the Low Income Program of the federal Universal Service Fund (USF),
which is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company
(USAC), and designed to ensure that quality telecommunications services
are available to low-income customers at reasonable and affordable
rates. Assurance Wireless uses the Nationwide Sprint Network, which
reaches more than 275 million people.

To learn more about Assurance Wireless, including eligibility
requirements, please call (toll-free) 800-395-2171 or visit www.assurancewireless.com.
Information is available in English and Spanish.

Note:sources for all information and statistics are available
upon request

*PKS Research Partners was commissioned by Sprint/Nextel (Assurance
Wireless) to conduct a research project among a nationally
representative sample of U.S. adults 25 years or older in order to
determine their attitudes toward and usage of mobile phones.

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